You’ve seen the messages saying that older TVs will soon stop working. What the messages don’t say is this: antenna-using TV viewers in the central Shenandoah Valley may well need an antenna upgrade to avoid losing most of the stations they now see.

The reason is this: the new DTV signals will divide the TV-receiving world into two categories: the signal-rich and the signal-poor. After the switchover, the “signal-rich” get richer and the “signal-poor” get poorer. That is: If you have reasonably good conventional signals now, you will get great digital signals with better quality and new channels. But if you have snowy or ghosted signals now, you may get nothing at all. That’s why you may need to upgrade your antenna.

Antenna work is part science, part art. There’s no way of predicting exactly what antenna will be required to get specified signals. Here are some important notes:

• If you have cable or satellite service, it will continue uninterrupted. You don’t have to change anything.
• Any TV’s you have that don’t have cable or satellite, but instead rely on “rabbit ears” or an outdoor antenna, will be affected. You will no longer receive conventional signals from most of your stations.
• You will need a new TV or digital converter box if you have an older TV that’s hooked to “rabbit ears” or an outdoor antenna. There’s more here.

So here’s a good antenna upgrade strategy:

• First, plug in your DTV converter box or new TV to your regular old antenna and see what you get. Some people will do just fine; others will find that they lose channels.
• If you can’t get most or all of your channels, do this antenna upgrade: Get a ChannelMaster 4228HD with the 7777 amplifier and a rotator. Get help installing it if you need it. This combination is well proven in Shenandoah Valley installations.
• Make sure the antenna is pointing in the right direction by entering your address at www.tvfool.com and printing out the charts it will generate.

More complex installations can actually lead to a surprisingly cable-like experience — from an antenna, with no monthly fees. However, it does require some work. Here’s a possible setup if you’re interested in trying.

Additional resources:

Timberville Electronics: local installer with known expertise.
Good antenna page on our sister site, plainmoney.com.
Antenna reviews and information.
Excellent but technical antenna discussion group.